South Africa’s premier T20 competition returns for its fourth installment on 26 December.
The fourth season’s auction, which took place on 9 September, saw all the puzzle pieces fall into place for the upcoming edition of the tournament. The Pretoria Capitals, Joburg Super Kings, Sunrisers Eastern Cape, MI Cape Town, Durban Super Giants, and Paarl Royals are all “chomping at the bit” to get underway as the time for final tweaks and preparations is almost over.
The Pretoria Capitals made headlines by acquiring the hottest name in South African cricket right now: Dewald Brevis. The 22-year-old was bought for a whopping R16.5 million. The hometown hero said, “This is a new chapter for me, to be with Pretoria. I’m super excited.” Head Coach Sourav Ganguly explained their auction strategy, saying, “We came in with a fresh slate. We wanted the best domestic players, and for that, we needed money.” R32.5 million to be exact, and it looks like money well-spent, especially after they managed to steal the best ODI bowler in the world, Keshav Maharaj, for only R1.7 million.
Faf du Plessis and Wiaan Mulder (R9 million) will look to lead the Joburg Super Kings to glory this season. JSK were outgunned in their pursuit of Dewald Brevis and had to pivot on the spot to assemble their team. They will go into the tournament as underdogs and hope that they have the right mix of youth (Steve Stolk and Janco Smit) and experience (with the likes of 41-year-old Imran Tahir) to upset the favourites. Smit, who currently plays for the Titans in the domestic game, made a name for himself at TuksCricket. 27-year-old Donovan Ferreira hails from UP and will aim to provide fireworks to keep up with the rest of the SA20 pack.
Reigning champions, MI Cape Town, retained seven players before the auction even began because they prioritised continuity. “We’re just thrilled we’re getting a lot of them back. A lot of them are leaders within our dressing room, to be honest. They don’t only play well on the cricket field, it’s what they add outside of cricket that makes a big difference,” head coach Robin Peterson added. A lethal bowling attack led by Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult, and Rashid Khan will aim to help the men from Cape Town retain the trophy and claim bonus point wins once again.
Fresh off his return to the Proteas setup, Quinton de Kock will look to fill the shoes of Aiden Markram at the Sunrisers Eastern Cape. Markram led the men in orange to back-to-back titles in the first two seasons of the competition. However, he was stolen away by the Durban Super Giants for R14 million. DSG boast a phenomenal batting lineup with Jos Buttler and Henrich Klaasen (arguably the top two in T20s), and now, they have Devon Conway and Markram in the mix. Even though they have an incredible batting lineup, DSG spent a further R9.7 million on Gerald Coetzee and Kwena Maphaka to lend their bowling attack.
The Orange Army turned their attention to Matthew Breetkze and spent R6.1 million on him upon missing out on Markram. A shrewd move, in conjunction with Quinton de Kock, could pay the team’s dividends. The Sunrisers fully embraced the “Local is Lekker” mindset as Tristian Stubbs, Arnich Nortje, Lutho Sipamla, Jordan Herrmann, and Breetkze are all local boys. “If you go to St. Georges Park, the people sort of know the players… They see them in the shopping centre and walk past them on the beach,” head coach Russell Dumingo described.
Another team flying under the radar are the Paarl Royals. T20 specialist David Miller will have to lead his troop well, and he is more than capable to do so. Teenage sensation Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who broke onto the scene and never looked back, was retained by the team. They also added recent UP graduate Keagan Lion-Cachet to the team for R950 000. Boland Park is a small ground, but it is a beautiful place to watch cricket. Known for being spinner-friendly, the likes of Nqaba Peter and Gudakesh Motie will have a big role to play if they want to go far in this tournament. Bring on the cricket!
